High Protein Diets Just As Bad As Cigarettes When It Comes To Cancer

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - DECEMBER 17: T-bone steaks cook on the grill at the U.S. Embassy during a Christmas party for Embassy staff and U.S. soldiers December 17, 2005 in the high security Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq. Soldiers and Embassy staff in Iraq for the holidays lit a Christmas tree, sang carrols, ate cookies and posed with Santa at the event. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Study says high protein diets put middle aged people at a four times greater risk of cancer. (Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES (CBS Atlanta) – Bad news for meat eaters: people who eat a high protein diet in middle age are more likely to die of cancer, reports Live Science.

The finding comes from a study at the University of Southern California.

Researchers followed 6,000 people age 50 and over for 18 years. They found that for those between 50 and 65 years of age, their risk of dying from cancer was four times greater if they ate a diet rich in animal proteins, such as meat, milk and cheese.

They also found those people were 75 percent more likely to die of any cause than those who ate a low protein diet during the same period.

The cancer risk from a high protein diet were similar to the risk from smoking; smokers are 4 times more likely to die of cancer than non-smokers.

The researchers warn fad diets take much of the blame. “Popular diets in many cases have high proteins and low sugars. They may make you lose some weight, but that’s not a good diet to increase life span,” said study researcher Valter Longo, director of the USC Longevity Institute.

But the news is not all bad. Those who got most of their protein from plant products, like beans, found their cancer risk not increased at all. This may be because they don’t stimulate growth hormones as much as meat proteins

And while animal proteins may be bad for the middle aged, the results were almost the opposite for people older than 65, for whom a moderate intake may be beneficial because they fight frailty.

The researchers recommend eating about 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight every day in middle age. For example, a 130-pound person should eat about 45 to 50 grams of protein a day, with a preference for plant proteins.